Deciphering Online Dating Profiles

— March 13, 2013

With more and more of us turning to online dating to find our soul mate there are more online dating profiles than ever, and with more profiles comes more elaborate descriptions! Unfortunately, these dating versions of great novels can make it pretty difficult to pick out Prince Charming, meaning that all too often, a less than truthful profile is catching us out and we end up dating a frog!

Fear not! There are some easy ways to decipher dating profiles and the secret messaging they are laced with that will ensure you are talking to the right potential date.

Perception & Reality: Two Very Different Things

It’s all too easy to be disappointed when you meet your date in the flesh, especially if you’ve been staring at a 10 year old photo for a month before meeting, take all images with a pinch of salt.

Research has actually discovered that profiles that are more deceptive will be less likely to use the word ‘I’.

Simple Profiles

It’s definitely a good idea to steer clear of profiles that are super simple; if a profile states ‘I’m not good at talking about myself’ it’s likely that they won’t be good a big talker on a date either. The more simple the profile, the more simple the person.

Deceptive profiles will be laced with with negation, like “not boring” instead of “exciting”

Picture Perfect

Stay away from profiles with no photos. However, photos can also speak a thousand words; if he’s wearing a hat in every single one of his photos he might be trying to hide the fact that he’s bald and people posing beside a sports cars rarely own said sports car.

Average

If they describe themselves as ‘average’, they aren’t! Take measurements with a pinch of salt too, if they say they are average height, they will be shorter than average and the same goes for weight.

Funny Guy

A sense of humour is great but if you find a profile that touts the owner as the next best comedian be get your courtesy laugh ready for any potential date as it’s likely they think they are funnier than they actually are.

Self-Employed

Self-employed entrepreneurs are pretty impressive but make sure you check they actually work before getting in too deep or you might end up being their next meal ticket.

People who haven’t paid for a full online membership aren’t likely to be generous with their money on your date either!

Carley Forrester considers herself a dating expert after playing the dating game for a number of years and advising potential daters on sites like Twink Love.